eternity, lifetimes and instants...

"the classic authors always said, 'if you spend something in an instant, eternity cannot bring it back to you'... the decision is up to you. you can do stupid things that can never be made good again. on the other hand, you can have a fortunate encounter, that will change your life forever."

ernst jünger, from: the details of time - conversations with jünger, 1990. image: jünger's diaries cribbed from this great blog...(i would also highly recommend jünger books 'on the marble cliffs', and 'the glass bees.')

when chessboards reveal eternity...

"the checkers traveling in a sequence of their white and black diagonals going both to the right and to the left, the contrast of the vertical and horizontal, both are similar in their alternating rhythms in light and darkness. this physical ordering reflects the cycle of man's destiny; the vastness of my former fears of darkness were resolved as i read first the dark square, meaning: first night. i read second a light square, meaning: then day. the seasons i read, the years i saw appearing as images, the living followed the dying in my checkerboard existence; and since every black is followed by a white, i found my place in eternity."

alfred jensen, 1960 (image: a 1963 postcard announcing jensen's exhibition in madison n.j.)